Networked battle system or firearm

ABSTRACT

A firearm includes one or more rails to which accessories may be mounted. The rails provide a communication path over which data may be transferred between the accessories and a processor located in the rails or in the firearm. The processor may cause the data to be sent to another location and may receive other data from other locations to provide a network of intercommunicating firearms that may deployed in a battlefield environment.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/976,157, filed Apr. 7, 2014 and U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 62/003,006, filed May 26, 2014, the contents eachof which are incorporated herein by reference thereto.

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/476,210, filed Sep. 3, 2014 the contents of which isincorporated herein by reference thereto. This application is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/481,542,filed Sep. 9, 2014 the contents of which is incorporated herein byreference thereto.

Reference is also made to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/968,882filed Aug. 16, 2013, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 61/684,062, filed Aug. 16, 2012, the contents eachof which are incorporated herein by reference thereto.

Reference is also made to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/956,582filed Aug. 1, 2013, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 61/684,062, filed Aug. 16, 2012, the contents eachof which is incorporated herein by reference thereto.

Reference is also made to the following applications, U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/688,256 filed Jan. 15, 2010; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/372,825 filed Feb. 14, 2012; U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 61/443,085 filed Feb. 15, 2011; and U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/528,728 filed Aug. 29, 2011,the contents each of which are also incorporated herein by referencethereto.

BACKGROUND

Embodiments of the invention relate generally to systems and method ofproviding information between one or more different battlefieldparticipants.

Communication of information between different battlefield participants(e.g., soldiers) may improve battle results. Further, the moreinformation communicated, the more the improvement.

During battle several different components may be used. These include,for example, rifles, scopes, grenade launchers and communicationdevices. Some of these components may provide for different views andangles of attack in a battlefield situation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one exemplary embodiment, a weapon is disclosed that providesinformation regarding its position and orientation to a central locationthat can interpret and display this information.

In one embodiment, a networked battle system is disclosed. The systemincludes: a communication network; a first rifle that includes at leastone accessory coupled thereto that determines a bearing of the firstrifle; a communication element coupled to the rifle allowing the atleast one accessory to provide bearing information to the communicationnetwork; and a battle management system in communication with the firstrifle through the communication network that receives the bearinginformation from the accessory and updates a battle plan based on thebearing information to form an updated battle plan.

In another embodiment, a rifle is disclosed. The rifle includes: a railsystem carried by an upper receiver of the rifle; at least one accessorycoupled to the rail system that determines a bearing of the rifle; acommunication element coupled to the rail system; at least one sensorcoupled to the rail; and a microprocessor carried in either the railsystem or a portion of the rifle. In this embodiment, information isprovided from the sensor to the microprocessor through the rail systemand then provided to the communication element through the rail systemfor transmission to a communication network.

In another embodiment, a battlefield system that includes a bearingsensor that determines a bearing of a battlefield device is disclosed.The system also includes a microprocessor in communication with thebearing sensor and carried either on or in the battlefield device and acommunication element carried by the battlefield device. In this systeminformation is provided from the sensor to the microprocessor and thenprovided to the communication element for transmission to acommunication network.

Other aspects and features of embodiments of the invention will becomeapparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of thefollowing description of specific embodiments of the invention inconjunction with the accompanying figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way ofexample only, with reference to the attached Figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of firearm embodied as a rifle according toone embodiment;

FIG. 2 shows an example of a rail configuration according to oneembodiment;

FIG. 3 is high-level system diagram illustrating a network formedbetween a firearm and another device;

FIG. 4 is an example of display screen of an accessory that may becoupled to a firearm;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating different possible communication pathsin a firearm;

FIG. 6 is a dataflow diagram illustrating data transfer from rifleaccessories to a central location and back;

FIG. 7 illustrates an alternative example of a scope; and

FIG. 8 illustrates multiple battlefield devices networked together.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The term “firearm” as used herein, refers at least to a rifle, machinegun, weapon, and pistol and may be automatic, semi-automatic orotherwise. Another example of a firearm includes a grenade launcher,mortar launcher or the like. A power or non-powered rail on a firearmmay have certain accessories attached to it. The accessories include,for example, telescopic sights, tactical sights, laser sighting modules,Global Positioning Systems (GPS), bearing sensors, inclination sensors,laser distance measuring devices, accelerometers, microphones, videocameras, cameras and night vision scopes. This list is not meant to beexclusive, merely an example of accessories that may utilize a rail. Anyof the devices (e.g., rifles, firearms, spotter scopes, etc.) disclosedherein may be referred to from time to time as a battlefield device.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a perspective view of a rifle, weapon, firearm,(automatic, semi-automatic or otherwise) 10 is illustrated. Rifle,weapon, firearm, etc. 10 has a plurality of rails 12. In one embodiment,rails 12 may be anyone of a MIL-STD-1913 rail, Weaver rail, NATO STANAG4694 accessory rail or equivalents thereof. Rails 12 are configured toallow a plurality of accessories 14 to the rifle 10. Rails 12 aremounted at the 12 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 6 o'clock and 9 o'clock positionswith respect to a longitudinal or firing axis of the rifle and/or abarrel 16 of the rifle 10.

Accessories 14 may be any one of telescopic sights, tactical sights,laser sighting modules, Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and nightvision scopes or any type of sensor. The aforementioned accessories aremerely an example of contemplated accessories for use with rifle orfirearm 10. A specific example of an attached accessory is shown aspersonal data assistant (PDA) 140 or cellular telephone in FIG. 1. ThisPDA may have a screen to display information (e.g., maps, targetlocations, video or other visual information) and receive informationfrom a user (e.g., a touch screen or other input devices). In accordancewith an exemplary embodiment, accessories 14 are items that require asource of power and/or require data communication with another componentof the rifle or firearm 10 or a system in which rifle or firearm 10 isemployed. Of course, one or more the accessories may have its own powersupply and may be able to communicate data independent of the firearm.

A portion of a powering rail configured as a MIL-STD-1913 rail is showngenerally as 12. Rail 12 is a MIL-STD-1913 rail, such as a Weaver rail,NATO STANAG 4694 accessory rail or the like. Sliding over rail 12 is apowered or powering rail 18.

With reference to FIG. 2, rail 12 has a plurality of rail slots 20 andrail ribs 22, which are utilized in receiving an accessory of anotherrail such as powering rail 18. Powering rail 18 comprises a plurality ofrail slots 24 and rail ribs 26 in a configuration that allows for themating of accessories with powering rail 18.

In one embodiment, powering rail 18 is mounted to rail 12 via a crosspin 28 or other device received within a pin hole 30 of powering rail18. The pin hole 30 accepts the cross pin 28 so that the pin 28 locksand secures the rails 12 and 18 together. Although FIG. 1 illustratesrail 18 secured to a top rail 12 of an upper receiver 31 of rifle orfirearm 10 rail 18 can also be secured in additional locations such asthe 3, 6 and 9 o'clock rail 12 locations. Still further, rail 18 may besecured to anyone or any combination of the 3, 6 and 9 o'clock rail 12locations. In addition and in one alternative embodiment, powering rail18 may be formed into anyone of rails 12 such that a separate rail 18 isnot necessary. In other words and in this embodiment, the rail 12 is nowthe networked power and/or data transmitting rail.

As discussed further below, the rail 18 may also provide a path fortransferring data from any or all of the accessories 14 to one or moreprocessors carried in the firearm 10. Such processors may be located,for example, in the rail 18 or the pistol grip 212 or both. Also, theaccessories themselves may have the ability to receive information backfrom the processors and transmit to a location remove from the firearm10. For instance, information from sensors on the firearm 10 may berouted to the processors and then provided to the PDA 140 fortransmission to an external location. This communication may be througha rail or direct in which case a rail may be omitted entirely.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a schematic illustration of a system 130, usingvarious embodiments of the present invention is illustrated. Asillustrated, a firearm 10 includes a barrel 1 and has a plurality ofpowering rails 18 (e.g., 3 o'clock, 6 o'clock, 9 o'clock and 12 o'clocklocations with respect to a longitudinal axis of the firearm 10 areprovided, of course, any other locations are also contemplated). Thepowering rails 18 are attached, in one embodiment, to rail 12.

Each of the powering rails 18 are configured to transmit power to anassociated accessory 14 via conductive couplings. The same or differentcouplings may also allow for the transmission of data though the rails18 to/from the accessories. The couplings can be any type of couplingincluding, for example, inductive couplings and/or galvanic couplingsincluding direct contact between two conductive materials. In oneembodiment, one of data or power is transmitted via inductive couplingsand the other of data or power is transmitted via galvanic couplings.More detailed description of the powering rails 18 and the manner inwhich power/data may be transferred is described in one or more thepatents/patent applications mentioned above.

Each of the rails 18 are also configured to communicate with a railmaster control unit or processor 42 via a data bus, which in turn allowsall of the accessories 14 to communicate information to other processorsin the firearm. For example, the firearm 10 may further include aprocessor 51 disposed in the grip 212 (FIG. 1) of the firearm. Asdiscussed more fully below, the processor 51 may serve as the mastercontrol unit. In one embodiment, the processor 42 may be omitted.

To the extent that the processor 42 is included, it may be referred toas a bus processor herein and it controls access to the data bus formedby the powering rails to allow for the processor 51 to communicateinformation to and from the accessories 14. The bus processor 42 may belocated in either the upper or lower receiver of the firearm 10 or maybe disposed in/on rails 12 or power rails 18.

As illustrated, processor 51 is coupled via communication link 133 to acommunication device 132 that may be worn, for example, in backpack orvest. This allows for the processor 51 to communicate with other devices136/200 in the system as more fully described below. The communicationlink 133 may be wired or wireless or a combination thereof. Thecommunication device 132 may communicate in any known manner including,but not limited to, rf communications, cellular communications,Bluetooth, and ZigBee and the communication path is generally shown aspassing through a communication network 131. The communication network131 can be any type of now known or later created network and mayinclude one or more additional processors for routing or storing theinformation.

In one embodiment, the PDA 140 may also be able to provide informationto and receive information from the communication network 131. Forinstance, accessories 14 in the form of sensors may provide informationto the processor (42 or 51 or both) and receive information back fromthe processor and transmit it off the rifle 10 to the communicationnetwork 131. In one embodiment, the communication from the PDA 140 isdirect to the communication network 131 via path 141 and in anotherembodiment, the PDA 140 communicates with the communication device 132(path 142) which in turn provides communication to the communicationnetwork 131. It shall be further understood that any of the processors51/42 or the PDA may operate as a server in communication with eachother or external server. For instance, the PDA 140 may operate as aserver that connects the processors 42/51 to a battle management system.As a server, the PDA may also be able to process map or coordinate datereceived from an external source such as a battle management system. Thesame may be true of the tablet 200 discussed below. In addition, whilethe sensors/accessories 14 are shown as connected to rails, it shall beunderstood these elements can be integral or embedded in the upperreceiver (or any other portion) of a firearm.

In one non-limiting embodiment the observer system is a spotter scope136 that may be able to determine the location of a potential target.This may include determining the location of the scope 136 and thedistance/direction to the target for instance, by combining a GPSlocation of the scope 136 with distance from a laser range finder andmeans for determining pointing direction as discussed below thisinformation may then be transferred from the scope 136 to the firearm 10and then routed through the rails and a location of the target displayedon a map shown on an accessory 14 such as a PDA. In this embodiment,firearm 10 of the system 130 is a sniper rifle, which is networked orcommunicates with observer system 136 through the communication network131. In one embodiment, the communication between the firearm and thescope 136 (or the tablet 200 discussed below) may be directpoint-to-point contact. It shall be understood that one or more of theaccessories 14 may also communicate directly to the communicationnetwork 131 in any known manner including, but not limited to, rfcommunications, cellular communications, Bluetooth, and ZigBee and thesecommunication devices may be any one of accessories 14 or peripheraldevice 132 which may be worn by an operator of one of the components. Inone embodiment, the communication network is a wireless LAN network. Thecommunication devices also being networked or in communication withother devices coupled to the powered rail(s) 18. Although only two items(e.g., firearm 10 and observer system 136) are illustrated it isunderstood that numerous items (e.g., more than two) may be networked tocommunicate with each other. For example, multiple firearms 10, observersystems 136 and numerous other devices or items may be networked throughsystem 130 and data can be exchanged between any of the items throughthe communication network 131. Each item may target, identify, orexchange data (either unique to that item or common between items) withrespect to multiple targets, locations, persons, or other items.

Another example of a spotter system 136 is illustrated as scope in FIG.7. In this embodiment, the spotter system 136 may have a device 138 thatcommunicates with an associated accessory 14 or device 140 illustratedin at least FIG. 1. For example, devices 138 and 140 may be GPS, laserrange finder, PDA or targeting devices capable of communicating (e.g.,wireless or otherwise) with each other and thus exchanging data andinformation.

The system illustrated in FIG. 3 shows a version of the system 130capable of communication with and/or part of a battlefield managementsystem (BMS) illustrated as tablet computer 200. Of course, the BMScould be implanted on other types of devices. Further, it shall beunderstood that the PDA 140 could be part of the system. In general, abattlefield management system is a system that integrates informationacquired from multiple inputs and can be used coordinatemovement/actions of multiple actors (e.g., soldiers).

As illustrated, one of the accessories 14 is coupled to an adapter 205that allows it to communicate with the rail. The adapter 205 couldcondition power into a form desired by the accessory. For example, theadapter could be utilized to convert power into a form or particular pinlayout used by a PDA or scope. Further, the adapter could includeformatting logic to convert PDA or scope data into a form conductive fortransmission through the rail 18. For example, parallel data could beconverted into serial format.

In one embodiment, the system 130 includes a sensor 220 capable ofdetermining a bearing of firearm 10. Such a sensor may be a compass orpart of a GPS device or other device. In one embodiment, the angular(bearing, pitch and roll) information may be determined from sensorscontained in PDA 140. In other embodiments, the angular sensors may beformed by one or more rotationally sensitive sensors such asinclinometers, rate gyros, accelerometers and magnometer mounted on thefirearm 10. In one embodiment the firearm 10 includes at least one setof angular sensors 222 to determine the inclination, roll and bearingwith respect to the horizontal axis of the firearm. The processor 51 maycombine the data from the sensors (e.g., 220, 222) as well asinformation from another other accessory 14 on the firearm and thencause it to be transmitted via communication device 132 to the battlemanagement system 200 or any other observer system 136. It shall beunderstood that any of the capabilities disclosed herein with respect tothe rifle 10 may be applicable to the scope 136 or any other deviceincluded in system 130.

In one embodiment, the processor 51 collects data from the accessories14 (herein, accessories will also include any sensor on the firearm) ineither a polled or interrupt method via the data bus. The data bus canbe either wired or wireless interfaces. The processor 51 may utilize areal time clock to routinely interrogate accessories 14 at apredetermined schedule. During these predetermined intervals theprocessor 51 reads the data and stores it into memory. In oneembodiment, the data is tagged with a real time clock stamp tofacilitate data processing. In one embodiment, one or more of theaccessories 14 are interrupt driven. In such a case, an event causes theaccessory 14 to send an interrupt to the processor 51 which, in turn,causes the processor 51 to collect data from the accessory 14.

Regardless of how collected, the data is transmitted from communicationdevice 132 to the tablet 200, the observer system 136 or both. Further,either of observer 136 or the tablet 200 can send information back tothe firearm 10.

In operation, processor 51 draws power from the power supply 84 and maydiscover connected accessories 14. In one embodiment, the discovery mayinclude verifying that the accessory 14 is operable. In the case thatthe accessory 14 is a sensor, the processor 51 may configure the sensorbased on its location on the firearm and function. The sensors can benavigation, acoustic or optical devices. The sensors all communicate tothe processor via the data bus and report sensor data and status. Thenavigation sensors could be individual or integrated into a singlepackage, and are GPS (military or commercial), accelerometer, rate gyro,magnometer (compass) or gyro scope and may sense and report in all threeaxial planes (x, y & z). The acoustic sensor may provide an acousticsignature of the environment around the firearm as well as of thefirearm itself. The optical sensor may capture the optical spectrum infront of the weapon. The optical spectrum could be the visual, infrared,thermal, Short Wave Length, Medium Wave Length and Long Wave Length,etc.

It shall be understood that the format of the data stored/transmitted bythe processor 51 can be varied and adapted to meet any preferredreceiving performance. Further, while there are several differentaccessories 14 disclosed above, it shall be understood that theprocessor 51 may include the ability to synthesize the data from theseaccessories before transmitting the data. For example, if a camera isused to form a digital image of a target, the time and the position andorientation of the rifle 10 can be attached to that image before it istransmitted. Further, in some cases, the rifle 10 may include a videocamera attached as an accessory. In such a case, the data (e.g., imagesor video) could be streamed in real-time with time/position dataappended thereto or sent in periodic or interrupt driven intervals.

In some cases, the processor 51 may include the ability to process thedata collected from the accessories 14. For example, the processor 51may include instructions that allow it perform ballistics calculations,target range and angular offset calculation, and target tracking.Further, based on collected data, the number of shots taken, remainingammunition, firearm performance and maintenance determinations and otherfirearm related calculations may be made. In one embodiment, theaccessories 14/processor 51 monitor the internal ballistic life cycleand internal mechanisms of the firearm. As a firearm's mechanisms wearor become fouled, previously recorded events can be compared todetermine the percentage of difference. Dependent on the parameter bemonitored, such comparisons may determine the usefulness of the firearm.

Either in real time or at a prior time, map information related to anarea in which the firearm 10 is, or in the future may be, located isprovided to one or more of: microprocessor 42/51, PDA 140, and tablet200. The map information may be in the form of an overhead aerial viewin one embodiment and may be received from any source including, but notlimited to reconnaissance information taken by satellite or otheroverhead device such as a drone. Of course, publicly available mapscould be used in one embodiment. Based on a GPS location of the firearm10, a portion of the map may be selected. Given the bearing of thefirearm 10, a view of the map in the region in front of the firearm 10may be selected and displayed on the PDA 140. Further, with theinformation the location of “friendlies” can be displayed on the maps asthe table 200 includes information from all of the weapons in the system130 and can place indicators on the map at those locations. Further, asan example, the location of a hostile party may be added to the mapbased, for example, the location of a friendly and a distance measuredto the hostile by a laser range finder.

In one embodiment, the firearm 10 includes an inclinometer as one of theaccessories 14. Assuming that ballistic information is known about aprojectile (e.g., a bullet or grenade) that the firearm 10 (or anattachment thereto) fires, a projected impact point on the map bedisplayed.

With reference to FIG. 4, an example of a display 201 of PDA 140 isillustrated. The bearing information (shown by compass 203) describedabove can be used to position a possible impact location 202 of theprojectile in along the y axis. Similarly, information from an angularsensors and the ballistic information can be used to determine how farthe projectile will travel and the, thus, determines the location of theimpact location 202. As the firearm as raised upward, the impactlocation 202 translates up on the map 201.

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates communication between variouscomponents on a firearm as disclosed herein. The firearm includes atleast one rail 18 onto which several accessories 14 are coupled. Thesystem includes three different communication channels shown as a lowspeed channel 502, a medium speed channel 504 and a high speed channel506. The low speed channel 502 extends from and allows communicationbetween the master processor 76 and any of the accessories 14. The lowspeed channel 502 can be driven by a low speed transmitter/receiver 510in processor 51 that includes selection logic 512 for selecting which ofthe accessories 14 to route the communication to.

Each accessory 14 includes low speed decoding/encoding logic 514 toreceive and decode information received over the low speed channel 502.Of course, the low speed decoding/encoding logic 514 can also includethe ability to transmit information from the accessories 14 as describedabove.

In one embodiment, the low speed channel 502 carries data at or about100 kB/s. Of course, other speeds could be used. The low speed channel502 passes through a coupling 520. The coupling 520 could be galvanic orvia inductive coil pairs. In one embodiment, the inductive coil paircould be replaced include a two or more core portions about which thecoil pair is wound. In another embodiment, the cores can be omitted andthe inductive coil pair can be implemented as an air core transformer.As illustrated, the couplings 520 are contained within the powering rail18. Of course, one or more of the portions of the coupling can bedisplaced from the rail 18.

The medium speed channel 504 is connected to couplings 520 and sharesthem with low speed channel 502. For clarity, branches of the mediumspeed channel 504 as illustrated in dashed lines. As one of ordinaryskill will realize, data can be transferred on both the low speedchannel 502 and the medium speed channel at the same time. The mediumspeed channel 504 is used to transmit data between the accessories 14.

Both the low and medium speed channels 502, 504 can also be used totransmit data to or receive data from an accessory (e.g. a tether) notphysically attached to the rail 18 as illustrated by element 540. Theconnection between the processor 51 can be either direct or through anoptional inductive coil pair 520′. In one embodiment, the optionalinductive coil pair 520′ couples power or data or both to processor 51which may be located in or near a handle portion (e.g., pistol grip) ofa firearm.

To allow for communication between accessories 14 over the medium speedchannel 504, the processor 51 can include routing logic 522 that couplessignals from one accessory to another based on information eitherreceived on the medium speed channel 504. Of course, in the case wheretwo accessories coupled to the rail 18 are communicating via the mediumspeed channel 502, the signal can be boosted or otherwise powered toensure is can drive couplings 520 between the accessories.

In another example, the accessory that is transmitting the data firstutilizes the low speed channel 502 to cause the processor 51 sets therouting logic 522 to couple the medium speed channel 504 to the desiredreceiving accessory. Of course, the processor 51 itself (or an elementcoupled to it) can be used to separate low and medium speedcommunications from one another and provide them to either the low speedtransmitter/receiver 510 or the routing logic 522, respectively. In oneembodiment, the medium speed channel 504 carries data at 10 MB/s.

FIG. 5 also illustrates a high speed channel 506. In one embodiment, thehigh speed channel 506 is formed by an optical data line and runs alongat least a portion of the length of the rail 18. For clarity, however,the high speed channel 506 is illustrated separated from the rail 18.Accessories 14 can include optical transmitter/receivers 542 forproviding signals to and receiving signals from the high speed channel506. In one embodiment, a high speed signal controller 532 is providedto control data flow along the high speed channel 506. It shall beunderstood that the high speed signal controller 532 can be located inany location and may be provided, for example, as part of the processor51. In one embodiment, the high speed signal controller 532 is anoptical signal controller such as, for example, an optical router.

FIG. 6 shows a dataflow of information as it may be transferredaccording to one embodiment. Accessory data 1200 a, 1200 b and 1200 c isrepresentative of data that may be transferred to or from accessoriescoupled to a rail system 1202 coupled to a firearm. The rail system 1202may be formed as herein described. Of course other rail systems capableof supporting one or more accessories on a firearm may be utilized. Therail system 1202 may provide power to the accessories in one embodimentbut that is not required. The rail system 18 may also provide a physicalconduit for transmitting data to and from the accessories. As mentionedabove and as more fully discussed below, the data 1200 a-1200 c passesthrough a coupling 520 that provides for inductive or galvanic transferof the data from the accessory to the communication pathway (e.g., bus)1204 provided by the rail system 1202. Of course, other energy transfermethods such as capacitive coupling may be utlilized. Processor 42controls communication over the bus 1204 and as such may be referred toas a bus processor in one embodiment. The bus processor 42 may belocated in the rail system 1202 itself or in the upper or lower receiverof a firearm. The bus processor may be able to determine, in oneembodiment, when an accessory is coupled to the rail system 1202. Itshould be noted that another processor (e.g. processor 51) may performthe bus control functions in one embodiment and, in such and embodiment,the bus processor 42 may be omitted.

The bus processor can allow, for example, for first accessory data 1200a to be transferred to the processor 51 first, followed by data 1200 band then 1200 c in one embodiment. Of course, any ordering a data can beprovided for. The data reaches processor 51 and then transformed into anoutput data set 1200 d. In one embodiment, the output data set is acompilation of portions of the data 1200 a-c. Output data set 1200 dcould also include additional information such as a time stamp. Forexample, assume data 1200 a is GPS data from a GPS device coupled to therail system 1200, data 1200 b is bearing information and data 1200 c isa target distance value. This data could be combined and time stamped toprovide an accurate time sensitive location of a potential target. Data1200 d may also include manipulated data as well. Regardless, data 1200d is provided to computing device 200 (e.g., a battle managementsystem). Data 1200 d may be transmitted off of the rifle 10 in anymanner including through one of the accessories (e.g., PDA 140).

Computing device 200 may also receive data from other battlefielddevices (e.g., other rail systems) as generally indicated by data 1200n. The computing device takes some or all of the data that it hasreceived and may, in one embodiment create mission data 1200 e. Thisdata is then transferred to processor 51 and subsequently provided toone or more of the accessories. An example (following from above)includes mission data 1200 e that includes a map showing all of thetargets identified by any of the rifles and data 1200 e could be sent toany or all of the rifles that are connected to a particular network. Theformat and content of the each of the different data elements shown inFIG. 6 may be platform agnostic in one embodiment so that the system1202 may integrated into any preexisting or later developed battlemanagement system.

The skilled artisan will realize that any number of rifles 10, spotterscopes 136, tablets 200 and the like may communicate with one another asshown in FIG. 8, other battlefield devices may also be included anindicated by reference numeral 201. For instance, grenade launchers,mortar launchers or any other element used to determine information orlaunch a projectile could communicate through network 131.

As referred to above, the rails 18 can be used to deliver power and/ordata to the accessories 14. The power and/or data can be transferredbidirectionally to and from the rail to the accessory inductively or viaa direct electrical (galvanic) connection.

While the invention has been described with reference to an exemplaryembodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted forelements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. Inaddition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situationor material to the teachings of the invention without departing from theessential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the inventionnot be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best modecontemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the inventionwill include all embodiments falling within the scope of the presentapplication.

What is claimed is:
 1. A networked battle system comprising: acommunication network; a first rifle that includes at least oneaccessory coupled thereto that determines a bearing of the first rifle;a communication element coupled to the rifle allowing the at least oneaccessory to provide bearing information to the communication network;and a battle management system in communication with the first riflethrough the communication network that receives the bearing informationfrom the accessory and updates a battle plan based on the bearinginformation to form an updated battle plan.
 2. The networked battlesystem of claim 1, further comprising: a battlefield device including adisplay device attached thereto; wherein the battle management systemprovides the updated battle plan to the display device through thecommunication network.
 3. The networked battle system of claim 1,wherein the updated battle plan is a map that includes an indication ofa location of a target.
 4. The networked battle system of claim 1,wherein the first rifle further includes a laser distance measurementdevice and the updated battle plan is formed in part based on distanceinformation received by the battle management system from the laserdistance measurement device through the communications network.
 5. Thenetworked battle system of claim 1, wherein the communication network isa wireless local area network (WLAN).
 6. The networked battle system ofclaim 5, wherein the WLAN connects directly to the communication elementand is part of the at least one accessory.
 7. The networked battlesystem of claim 2, wherein the battlefield device includes amicroprocessor that receives the updated battle plan and provides it tothe display device.
 8. The networked battle system of claim 2, whereinthe microprocessor is located in a grip of the battlefield device. 9.The networked battle system of claim 7, wherein the communicationelement is in communication with a radio device in communication withthe communication network.
 10. The networked battle system of claim 9,wherein the radio device is wirelessly coupled to the communicationelement.
 11. A rifle comprising: a rail system carried by an upperreceiver of the rifle; at least one accessory coupled to the rail systemthat determines a bearing of the rifle; a communication element coupledto the rail system; at least one sensor coupled to the rail; and amicroprocessor carried in either the rail system or a portion of therifle; wherein information is provided from the sensor to themicroprocessor through the rail system and then provided to thecommunication element through the rail system for transmission to acommunication network.
 12. The rifle of claim 11, wherein the sensor isa bearing sensor.
 13. The rifle of claim 11, wherein the microprocessoris located in a grip of the rifle.
 14. The rifle of claim 11, whereinthe communication element is a personal digital assistant (PDA).
 15. Therifle of claim 11, wherein the communication element is in communicationwith a radio device in communication with the communication network. 16.A battlefield system comprising: a bearing sensor that determines abearing of a battlefield device; a microprocessor in communication withthe bearing sensor and carried either on or in the battlefield device;and a communication element carried by the battlefield device; whereininformation is provided from the sensor to the microprocessor and thenprovided to the communication element for transmission to acommunication network.
 17. The battlefield system of claim 16, whereinthe microprocessor is located in a grip of a rifle.
 18. The battlefieldsystem of claim 16, wherein the communication element is a personaldigital assistant (PDA).
 19. The battlefield system of claim 16, whereinthe communication element is in communication with a radio device incommunication with the communication network.